Van Ark landed her most famous role of Valene Ewing in 1978, first on the CBS series Dallas, then for 13 seasons on its spin-off Knots Landing (1979–92). For this role, she won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Actress in 1986 and 1989. She left the show in 1992, although she did return for the final episode of the series in 1993 and for the 1997 miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac. In 1985, she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination as host of the Tournament of Roses Parade on CBS. From 2004-2005, she starred in the soap opera The Young and the Restless. She reprised her role of Valene in an episode of the new Dallas series in 2013.\n', '

Van Ark was born in New York City to Dorothy Jean Van Ark (née Hemenway) and Carroll Van Ark (1897-1972), an advertiser and public relations consultant from Holland, Michigan, of Dutch\n', 'ancestry. Carroll Van Ark\'s paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Holland. Both parents were also writers. She grew up in Boulder, Colorado, with three siblings: Carol, Mark and Dexter.\n', '

At age 15, as a student reporter, Van Ark met and interviewed actress Julie Harris, who later recommended Van Ark apply to the Yale School of Drama. Harris had been the youngest student to attend the school on scholarship. Van Ark was one of the few students to attend the graduate program without first having earned an undergraduate degree. She attended for only one year. Years later, Harris appeared on Knots Landing as Lilimae Clements, the mother of Valene Ewing, Van Ark\'s character.\n', '

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